Scrapping free prescriptions for people 60-66

Thankyou MaizieD

My MIL was born in 1902 and was brought up in poverty.Getting anything free was heaven to her so understandable she grabbed anything she could in fact she made a meal of it!

Is this happening (the introduction of fees), or is it still being mooted?

I haven't seen or heard anything about it for a while, but OMRF's post above suggests that it is on its way. I have Graves Disease, so would probably be exempt anyway, unless the rules have changed, but I'm guessing that I would need some sort of proof.

Espeee stockpiling of drugs often happens when people are on multiple daily medication regimes, and decide off their own initiative not to take one or more of them, usually they don’t tell anybody they have done this. The drugs are on a repeat prescription, and keep on coming until somebody, often the district nurse is eventually told and the prescription changed. I understand your point on prescriptions being subject to a nominal dispensing fee, but unfortunately I don’t think it would stop this particular issue, which is a really difficult one to crack.

pinkprincess

I can remember my MIL getting a new set of teeth every 6 months because they were free, also always needing elastic stockings.After her death we found quite alot of unopened packets of elastic stockings plus loads of painkillers which she had obviously stockpiled because they were free.

I don't know how old your MiL was, but my parents and in-laws were born in the 1920s when medical care and medicines weren't free. I can understand that someone from that generation could in some way enjoy getting a stock of freebies just because they were free. It's a weird thing to do and I'm sure that it wasn't something done by most of that generation (or by their parent's generation, who also lived long enough to enjoy the NHS) Certainly none of our family did it.

I can remember my MIL getting a new set of teeth every 6 months because they were free, also always needing elastic stockings.After her death we found quite alot of unopened packets of elastic stockings plus loads of painkillers which she had obviously stockpiled because they were free.

Although free in Scotland I would prefer a dispensing fee of say £1 per prescription. I feel this would stop those who will accept anything which is free whether they will use it or not. We hear of people clearing out the homes of elderly relatives who it turns out have stockpiled unused medicines for years.

Prescription charges should be abolished totally. They were never on the agenda when Attlee's government created the NHS.

I am in a strange place that I do qualify at the moment as a 65 year old and having epilepsy but haven’t acquired the MedEx certificate as I do qualify under the over 60 rule. When April comes I won’t be covered and will have to apply for a certificate to cover me for a few months but can’t apply until them as I am already covered under another category. This means I may have to pay for 14 items each month for a number of months until it’s sorted out. I don’t have that sort of funds. I also think that for some people some drugs could be graded say A, B, orC and it may encourage people not to use the doctor for unnecessary prescriptions and pay for over the counter treatments instead. The quarterly and twelve month pass was useful in my life before I was 60 and had epilepsy but I still had serious illnesses which have been just as debilitating, requiring medication such as heart problems.

there are many people who fall between the rules for UC etc yet are struggling.
other people who are comfortably off probably cannot understand this; they assume if you are poor, then there is help, and if you don;t meet the criteria then you are ok.
real life isnt like that.
such a lot is down to luck or circumstances.
and didn't men get free prescriptions at age 60, when they retired at 65. another disbenefit for women to take it away.

Women in particular very often put themselves last and would be quite likely to save the prescription money to spend on another member of the family.

Unless such women are spending what would have been their prescription money on absolute essentials for other members of family, this suggests to me that they could actually afford to pay for their prescriptions.

Which does not necessarily mean I'm advocating charging more people for prescriptions. I just found that argument above to be a bit specious.

some people cannot afford prescriptions supposing someone went to the GP and they were given a prescription to make them better and couldn't afford to pay for it they throw it away and their condition gets worse they are then hospitalised because of this, this will cost the NHS more money to keep them in hospital rather than the cost of the prescription we have paid into the national health all our working lives it's unfair they are wanting to take this away from us it's okay for the people who have money saying let them do it but think of the poor people

If over 90% are free anyway it makes much more sense to make 100% free as it would eliminate a whole layer of bureaucracy.

This gives a better perspective.
pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/feature/prescription-charges-backfire-on-uk-health-andnbspwealth

Calendargirl

It should be brought in line with state pension age. Surely the whole idea of free prescriptions was when you retired at 60? Now that has altered, it follows that all associated benefits, i.e. prescriptions, bus passes, leisure facilities, etc should be for the new age.

Harsh, but logical.

I agree, although it isn’t harsh, it’s fair.

Teacheranne

Zoejory

Over 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge as it is now.

That seems a very high figure as anyone working has to pay, so these figures imply that 90% of our population are children, over 60 or claiming certain benefits ( limited). Surely not?

A number of people of working age are eligible for free prescriptions: pregnant women and for a year after birth, people with certain health condition eg diabetes. I would imagine a few million fall into one of those categories. They are more likely to need medication than others. The vast majority of healthcare spending is spent in the last years of life. I can easily believe that 90% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge.

pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/prescription-charge-overhaul-would-raise-1bn-a-year-for-nhs-says-think-tank

The above article is 7 years old but I doubt much has changed.

Zoejory

Over 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge as it is now.

That seems a very high figure as anyone working has to pay, so these figures imply that 90% of our population are children, over 60 or claiming certain benefits ( limited). Surely not?

Over 90% of prescription items are dispensed free of charge as it is now.

Thanks Doodledog. I agree of course that having a comfy house doesn’t make people uniformed - I’m one of them too, as no doubt most on here are. It was a figure of speech, what I find annoying is when people sound off in an ‘I’m alright Jack’ way which implies that people who can’t afford things like prescriptions are lazy/feckless.

I think it's a bit unfair to say that 'we' voted for this government in England

That's OK then because that's not what I said.

Scottish and Welsh elections have resulted in governments that have implemented "free" prescriptions. The UK government, elected by all nations, want to charge more people for prescriptions in the nations where it is allowed to do so.

Casdon

The decisions to have free prescriptions for Wales and Scotland by the respective governments was based on equal access for all ages to the healthcare they need, not just over 60s, there are millions of people who are in work who live close to the poverty line and cannot afford to pay for prescriptions. It’s easy to sit in your comfy house, having worked to over 60 yourself and make uninformed statements, but please read the research and see the reality.

I agree with your point that there are younger people who can't afford to pay either, but two wrongs don't make a right. Equal access to free healthcare should be a right for all, IMO, and the way to ensure that is not to use access as a tax on those in work - means testing creates poverty, rather than alleviating it.

Also, having a 'comfy house' does not make people uninformed. I get so fed up of that argument on here. Anyone who is on GN has a computer or smartphone and access to wifi, which already puts us in a privileged position.

Alegrias1

love0c

Hetty58 It would be a totally wrong decision to start and make people oved the age of 60 start to pay now, when we know it is free for all in Scotland and Wales.

Its free at the point of use because we voted for governments that value that as a health investment worth making. Whilst the UK government decided that the English public can take their chances, and clearly they are supported by many on here.

I think it's a bit unfair to say that 'we' voted for this government in England - I certainly didn't. I hear that argument from Scottish friends a lot, and it sounds very smug and confrontational, particularly as three is no 'we' in either country. Scots people don't speak with one voice any more than the English.

As for the prescription charges, I think that it would disadvantage many. The women who have had years added to their pension age are already suffering, either financially if they have retired at an age that is now considered 'early', or physically if they are doing manual jobs beyond the age where this is good for them. The former group will have retired having worked out their budgets thinking that prescriptions would be free, and the latter are more likely to need prescriptions than younger people or those not in work. As Ilovecheese says, it is not economically sensible to put people in a position where they may end up costing the NHS more for neglected conditions than they cost in free prescriptions, quite apart from the human cost.

Older people are an easy target, and the government has made life into an intergenerational conflict, which is based on a completely fallacious perspective. It is not 'taking from the young' to allow older people (along with pregnant women, those on benefits and those with particular medical conditions) to have free prescriptions. It is predominantly younger people who have benefited from furlough, for instance - these things are not a case of taking from one group to give to another.

If the amount that older people have paid in over decades is not enough to cover their care, that is not their fault - we have paid what we were asked to pay. Governments should have reformed the system to ensure that there was enough - they are the ones who have been in charge of managing it.

The decisions to have free prescriptions for Wales and Scotland by the respective governments was based on equal access for all ages to the healthcare they need, not just over 60s, there are millions of people who are in work who live close to the poverty line and cannot afford to pay for prescriptions. It’s easy to sit in your comfy house, having worked to over 60 yourself and make uninformed statements, but please read the research and see the reality.

Extending the pension age was a financial and political decision. It cannot change the fact that our bodies are still 60 years old. Things start to go wrong, for example high blood pressure, the risk of strokes and heart attacks can be greatly reduced by taking regular medication to lower blood pressure, thus preventing more serious and therefore more expensive conditions. Women in particular very often put themselves last and would be quite likely to save the prescription money to spend on another member of the family.
Charging for prescriptions is not economically sensible.

love0c

Hetty58 It would be a totally wrong decision to start and make people oved the age of 60 start to pay now, when we know it is free for all in Scotland and Wales.

Its free at the point of use because we voted for governments that value that as a health investment worth making. Whilst the UK government decided that the English public can take their chances, and clearly they are supported by many on here.